Are Wireless Networks the Wave of the Future? Proponents say the technology offers more flexibility for students and professors By JEFFREY R. YOUNG Is the idea of the "wired campus" already tired? The next big technology, say some college administrators, will be wireless networks that let students and professors connect to the Internet with radio waves instead of cumbersome cables. ALSO SEE: The Reach of Wireless Computing At the University of Oklahoma, freshmen entering the engineering program must purchase laptops and lease $400 wireless-network adaptors. Most of the engineering classrooms are equipped with transmitters that allow students to connect to the Internet without having to plug in. That provides more flexibility for class activities involving computers, because professors can rearrange furniture and ask students to divide into groups without worrying about network cables. The university is considering expanding the service to all of its classrooms, and maybe even to the whole city of Norman, Okla. At the University of Kentucky, the new main library features a wireless network, and students can borrow radio-equipped laptop computers to use within the building. Instead of sitting at library tables, students can curl up in comfortable chairs with the laptops, exploring their courses' World-Wide Web pages or checking their e-mail. At the Johns Hopkins University's School of Public Health, officials decided to set up a wireless network because it was cheaper than adding hundreds of data ports in their 80-year-old buildings. A few other institutions are experimenting with wireless networks in their libraries and classrooms as well. They include Carnegie Mellon University, Drexel University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Florida, and the University of Maryland at College Park. But some college administrators whose institutions have tried wireless say the technology isn't quite ready for prime time. Many wireless services available today operate at slower speeds than standard network connections, and some of the systems have difficulty handling the traffic generated by classrooms full of students all surfing the Internet at the same time. Some early wireless experiments on campuses seem to have had only moderate success, although those systems use an older technology with slower connection speeds. The University of California's campuses at Santa Cruz and Berkeley were among the first institutions to work with a company called Metricom to offer wireless-modem service. In those systems, which have been in place since 1995, the wireless service is managed by Metricom, and the universities simply endorse it. Officials say student participation has been lower than anticipated. Even so, many administrators say the campus of the future will be dotted with wireless-network transmitters -- on street lamps, near lighted exit signs, and on other lofty perches. Such new systems, operated by the universities themselves, won't replace standard networks, administrators say, but will instead give added flexibility to students and professors, who will be able to open their laptop computers anywhere on the campus and instantly enter cyberspace. Most colleges that are now experimenting with the idea are setting up wireless LANs, or local-area networks. The systems work much like cordless telephones. Computers using the systems are equipped with adaptors bearing small antennas that ferry data between the computers and a base unit, or "access point," located nearby. The signal's range is usually only about 500 to 1,000 feet. The access point is wired to a standard campus network. In many cases, each access point can communicate with only about 15 computers at a time, but multiple transmitter units -- operating on slightly different frequencies -- can be placed in the same classroom to allow more users to jump in. Part of the draw of wireless networks is the sense of freedom they foster. "You're just sort of mystically connected to computers all over the world," says Eugene R. Williams, vice-president for information systems at the University of Kentucky. "I think most people -- and students in particular -- love the idea of not being tethered to anything." When the university decided to build a new library, officials wanted to make it an information center with all the latest technologies, and wireless was high on their list, says Mr. Williams. Early in the design process, planners were thinking about where to place the wireless-network transmitters. The transmitters need to be near ceilings so the signals can travel above furniture, which can block them. The transmitters also need to be plugged into the electrical-power supply and the data network. Even with careful planning, there are some dead spots, Mr. Williams acknowledges. Mr. Williams says he wasn't sure how popular the wireless computers would be, especially because the library also offers 3,000 standard jacks that provide slightly faster network connections. But when the library opened last spring, students immediately began borrowing the 45 wireless-equipped computers available for use inside the building. "It's been a wildly successful program," he says. "We've even had to expand the number of computers." Eighty laptops are now available. At Drexel University, which set up a similar wireless network in its main library, students are also making heavy use of the system, roaming the rows of shelves with laptops in hand. "They can be in the stacks looking at the [on-line] catalogue rather than going back and forth to some terminal someplace," says John A. Bielec, vice-president for information resources and technology at the university. Mr. Bielec says the university is also installing wireless networks where students gather to relax. It set up a wireless network in the student union, for instance, and made a half dozen laptops available for checkout. He says the wireless technology promotes a "more student-friendly kind of atmosphere." The University of Maryland at College Park has also set up a wireless network in a library, and it too lends laptops. "It's just something we wanted to try and see if it works," says T. Clayton Gump, a telecommunications engineer at the university. Another motivation he names: "Because it's fun." When universities set up wireless networks campus-wide, students can connect from anywhere -- sunny patches of grass, cafeterias, parking lots -- at least until their batteries need to be recharged. That kind of access is what administrators at Carnegie Mellon University hope will happen there. The university already has what is probably higher education's most advanced wireless network, but it was set up primarily for research purposes -- to help design and test new uses for wireless networks -- rather than for the convenience of students and administrators. The university is now expanding the service, however, and it plans to encourage students to use the system. Pete Bronder, head of data communications for the university, says he hopes the wireless network will lead to a "social revolution" on the campus. Because so many of the university's students are engineers who spend an inordinate amount of time in front of computers, he says, the wireless network might allow them to "sit in the sun a while and hack away." Some administrators say the best use of wireless networks is in the classroom. "We're excited about getting the technology in the classroom," says John A. Hawley III, the University of Oklahoma's assistant dean of engineering for computing and information technology. He says requiring students to bring laptops to class with wireless adaptors -- as the engineering school does -- creates a better learning environment than does a room of desktops bolted to rows of tables. Employers "want graduates who have worked in teams," he says, and wireless technology makes it easier for the students to collaborate while still using the computer network. And when the weather's nice, "we have classes outside with our computers," he adds. "Anyplace is a computer classroom with network access." The English and physics departments at the university are also experimenting with wireless classrooms, he says, and the university is considering building partnerships with businesses that are interested in equipping the entire community. "We want to make Norman into this wireless city," he says. But not everyone is sold on wireless classrooms. Jay L. Dominick, assistant vice-president for information systems at Wake Forest University, says the institution decided not to go wireless after experimenting with the technology in 1996. "What it really came down to for us was cost and power," he says. The price of the wireless adaptors -- about $400 each -- was too much to ask students to pay, he says, especially because they're already required to own a high-end laptop. And the wireless network often became clogged when an entire class used the system at the same time, he says. Then there's electricity to worry about, adds Mr. Dominick. "There are going to be some students who run out of battery power before class is over," he says. "There are sockets in the room, but not enough. The classrooms don't have a whole lot of electrical outlets in them." Some institutions that have supported campus-wide wireless services for three years report low usage. One example is the University of California at Berkeley, one of about two dozen campuses that have allowed Metricom to set up wireless Internet services on their campuses. Only a few hundred of Berkeley's 30,000 students use the service. "I've been surprised that more people don't use it," says Jack McCredie, associate vice-chancellor for information systems and technology at Berkeley. He blames two factors: speed and price. The service, called Ricochet, operates at much slower speeds than the regular campus network or newer wireless networks. And students must pay about $20 a month to use the Ricochet service. By contrast, students can plug into the campus network free from any dormitory room. In some cases, however, wireless networks are cheaper than standard ones. "It was a huge cost savings for us," says Ross McKenzie, director of information systems at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. When the school wanted to use more technology in the classroom, officials decided that it would be too expensive to install enough network jacks to accommodate every student, says Mr. McKenzie. Wiring the buildings with jacks would have been complicated by the structures' age. Setting up a wireless network required less drilling into old walls. "It is very expensive to rewire buildings," Mr. McKenzie says. "Wireless was simply something that we had to do." But some administrators say wireless networks will become a must because students will demand them, just as they have called for high-speed Internet connections in dormitories and libraries. "The campus of the future is going to be pretty wired and pretty wireless," says Mr. Bielec of Drexel. "You'll need both infrastructures." http://chronicle.com Section: Information Technology Page: A25